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Thankful Funds Not Spent On Gas Promotion

This weekend my husband and I hosted a reunion in Ocean City with 65-plus members of my family. Every family member was from out of town and most had never been to our town before. I just want to say that someone from each family commented on what a beautiful, clean and exciting resort we live in and how amazing it is to find a town that offers something for everyone.

Every family mentioned that they would like to consider either eventually moving here or going in on a family condo here (frankly, I’m not sure how I feel about having that much family here). Anyway, my point is that once again, it is clear why my husband and I are so proud to call Ocean City our home. Ocean City truly is a fabulous place to live.

While busy with my family reunion preparations, I’ve been very anxious but too busy to comment on the recent gas promotion that was being considered for Ocean City. Although the council’s final decision is a relief to me (as a taxpayer), I would still like to share my thoughts.

I would like to thank Doug Cymek, Jim Hall, Mary Knight and Lloyd Martin for having enough courage and conviction to reverse earlier council support for the tank of gas promotion. When my husband and I owned local restaurants and retail stores, we firmly believed that our advertising should always accentuate the positive and never use a negative product to promote our business. Spending $100,000 on a message which is a constant reminder of high gas prices and the cost of everything in a soft economy seemed so unnecessary when we have an endless list of free and positive attributes to bring people to our town (which are all obviously working).

I say stay the course. Let our tourism council, special event planners and OC’s marketing firm keep doing what they do very well already. They know the importance of projecting a positive message. We need to let them do their job promoting the free movies on the beach, free events like the Air Show and Arts Alive, the Disney promotion, the Dew Tour. It’s all fabulous and it’s all working.

I respect the difficult job our City Council members have, but ever since the Rodney the Lifeguard debate (which has proven to be a highly successful campaign for OC), I’ve wished that our council would do a little less micro managing and let the professional marketing firm, our chamber and our tourism board continue the fine job they’re doing without so much council interference. This would give our council members more time to concentrate on other city affairs.

Again, to Doug Cymek for his common sense approach and to our other council members for following his lead, thank you for not wasting $100,000 of your tax payers money. And keep accentuating the positive. And did I mention that half of my visiting relatives, who want to move here now, live in Va. Beach?

Patti Miller
Ocean City

Gas A PR Bonanza

Editor:

It’s time to look at the incredibly positive public relations benefits Ocean City, Md. has achieved in the past 8 ½ months, attention never before achieved, with attention now growing exponentially.

The name “Ocean City, Md.” is all over the Internet, on USA Today, Yahoo globally, in newspapers in Florida, Arizona, in newspapers in Ireland, UK and India, in 37-plus newspaper features in Maryland, plus major TV coverage including WJZ and WMDT, many radio and on Facebook.

Why has this happened? “Brilliant” is the word heard from news organizations and publicity people from all over the world when hearing about the gas promotion.

What is the purpose of this promotion that has generated so much PR and has been cited as “brilliant” – so many times?

Advertising is paying for “comments about yourself.” Ocean City is telling everyone how great Ocean City is (all resorts do this — Ocean City spends $3 ½ million dollars for this every year).

Promotion is “getting others to say” how great Ocean City is” generally for little or sometimes even no cost. So a little cost and great ingenuity and perfect timing has the potential to produce a result as much or even much more, than millions of dollars spent on advertising could achieve. Mayor Harry Kelley had that skill — to meet adversary head on and produce a PR bonanza.

Harry Kelley’s approach being applied here is brilliant and continues to produce incredible positive PR for Ocean City. There is an slight element of “fantasy” and “entertainment” woven into to PR that’s done well, and people love it and are drawn into it, causing it to continue and to increase exponentially. The current PR bonanza allows Ocean City to capitalize on a major news item, something that’s on everyone’s mind every day that has deep concern and meaning. It takes a term that people are struggling with and adds a little fantasy and reality intertwined, making it a fantastic, entertaining “fun” reality they can’t forget! It’s a continuing win-win for Ocean City.

Hundreds of thousands of people, in Maryland all over the East Coast, all over the country and now in Europe and Asia have seen and know about Ocean City, Md.– all because of “Free Gas In Ocean City, Md.”

The PR benefits are potentially worth millions each year for Ocean City with benefits now already exceeding all expectations and all of this complimentary with and over and above all the positive town events , free activities and cards already being offered. Great PR really is “Fun”. Ocean City is truly living in exciting times”.

Joe KroArt
Ocean City

Extortion Alleged

Editor:

The main purpose of most politicians is to stay in power. In order to stay in power, they need to get votes. In order to get votes, they need to give to their constituency what they want. In order to accomplish this, the politicians need money. In order to get money, they need to enact taxes, fees, permits, tolls and licenses, much of which is legalized theft. I have a sheet of legal size paper that is full of the various taxes we pay. What is not on that list is the “cap and trade” tax that we pay in this state. This tax is ridiculously justified by the alarmist notion that we are warming the planet by the burning of fuels that give off the now “toxic” gas CO2, as just decreed by the EPA.

Even though human-caused global warming has been shown to be a scam, so much so that the libs now call it “climate change”, we are still paying an extra tax on all forms of fuel in the state of MD. This adds to the business unfriendly environment that the governor and legislators, mainly from Prince Georges, Montgomery counties and Baltimore city, have made.

Businesses would flock to this state if taxes were low and oppressive legislation was eliminated. Unemployment would go down and tax revenues would go up. We also wouldn’t need so much revenue if the state was run more efficiently in the first place. Worcester County is paying Baltimore City 18% off the top of its casino profits. Why? Now Governor O’Malley, who presided over tax giveaways for Baltimore as mayor, is proposing giving in-state tuition costs for illegal aliens, an $8 toll on the Bay Bridge and higher tolls in other areas.

Americans for Prosperity, a tea party organization, fought and defeated the 10-cent per gallon tax at the pump that he and the “tax and spend” legislators tried to enact. Imagine the meanspiritness of these politicians wanting to add, substantially, to the already outrageous cost of gasoline and diesel fuel, after defeating the fabulously lucrative natural gas drilling in western Md. This single endeavor would decrease our taxes and put thousands to work. Pennsylvania has been doing it in the same Marcellus shale formation since 2003. What have we been doing? But we have the first state department of education about to mandate environmental curriculum for H.S. graduates.

Why can Florida function with no state income tax? Why did Texas create 265,000 jobs when the rest of the country created 266,000?

Is it because of conservative leadership making those states business friendly? Texas has no state income tax or capitol gains taxes. They will not enforce the federal mandate for curly mercury bulbs. They drill for oil and natural gas. They are about to put into law that the loser in lawsuits be made to pay the defender’s expenses. Could Maryland ever rise to their level?

Come to the public hearing, July 14 at Stephen Decatur Middle School at 5:30 p.m. It will be a public hearing about the coming legalized extortion about to hit us. Continue fighting these rascals by joining Americans for Prosperity.